20. Olympic track events

Episode description

August 18 | In this episode of The Telegraph Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe review the track events at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Great Britain won six of the ten gold medals available in the velodrome but there were plenty of stories too.

After missing out in Beijing and London, Mark Cavendish finally won an Olympic medal, taking silver in the omnium behind Italy's Elia Viviani. However, he was at the centre of controversy after causing a crash midway through the race. We analyse what happened.

There was more controversy in the men's Keirin final, when riders overlapped the Derny bike too early not once but twice, although officials decided not to disqualify anyone for the infraction.

There were also world records for the British men's and women's team pursuits and an Olympic record for the men's team sprinters. Bradley Wiggins became Britain's most successful Olympian by taking his eighth medal, Laura Trott is now Britain's most successful female Olympian after winning her fourth gold, and Jason Kenny equalled Chris Hoy's record of six gold medals.

We also look ahead to the Vuelta a Espana, which starts on Saturday. For the first time, The Telegraph Cycling Podcast will be offering daily coverage of the third and final grand tour of the season. The line-up of riders is impressive. Chris Froome will lead Team Sky after winning the Tour de France and a silver medal in the Olympic time trial. Nairo Quintana will try to make up for a disappointing Tour, and Alberto Contador is back following the crash that ended his Tour. Quintana's team-mate Alejandro Valverde will start his third grand tour of the season, and will no doubt target another top ten finish, having been third at the Giro and sixth at the Tour. Esteban Chaves and Steven Kruijswijk, who both wore pink at the Giro, will also be on the start line in Spain, as will Simon Yates, returning from his suspension and having seen his brother Adam finish fourth in the Tour.